Follow the leader.
It was a game like so many others. The Ottawa Senators were playing well, they were generating chances and yet nothing seemed to be going their way.
Not only were their opportunities resulting in saves or in disallowed goal or in any number of unfortunate outcomes but it seemed like every bounce was going the way of the New York Rangers. Twice the Rangers scored seconds after an Ottawa defenceman was hurt blocking a shot.
Sometimes it’s just not meant to be. But also, sometimes, the Captain puts the team on his shoulders.
On a night where he fought the Rangers’ Captain at centre ice and then stared into the souls of his teammates, Brady Tkachuk basically willed this team to victory. There’s no other explanation really. A game-changing fight, an assist, a game-tying goal and then a game-winner.
As far as individual performances go, it’s one of the best in Sens history. And it has the potential to turn this season on its head.
The Ottawa Senators look to build off their biggest win of the season when they return home to host Erik Karlsson and the San Jose Sharks.
No game day skate for the Senators obviously and it doesn’t sound like DJ Smith will meet with the media until close to 4:30 PM so we’ll just assume same lineup for now.
Tkachuk-Stützle-Giroux
DeBrincat-Pinto-Batherson
Motte-Gambrell-Joseph
Kelly-Kastelic-Watson
Chabot-Zub
Sanderson-Hamonic
Brannstrom-Zaitsev
Would assume Anton Forsberg starts but we’ll confirm that later this afternoon. If he’s not ready to go, I was an elite road hockey goalie and can step in if needed.
Puck drop is scheduled for 7:08 PM. The game is not televised, is not on the radio and cannot be consumed via illegal internet streams, no matter how hard Bort may try. Surprising, I know. What this means is you have to find your way down to the Canadian Tire Centre and cheer this team on in person.
You should all know that I agonized over what to do with the HEAD2HEAD table today. On the surface, you don’t want to mess with a winning approach except in this case, it’s pretty clear that the HEAD2HEAD table was unfairly targeted to send a message to the rest of the group. The Ottawa Senators obviously weren’t losing because of these majestic rows and columns and high-level statistics…they were losing because of those Movember moustaches.
Welcome back, HEAD2HEAD table. We’ve missed you terribly.
Also, please excuse any misplaced commas or spelling mistakes in today’s post. My editor has the weekend off.
| HEAD2HEAD |  |
 |
|---|---|---|
| Record | 8-14-4 (20 pts) | 9-13-1 (20 pts) |
| Goals For | 2.92 (21st) | 3.05 (17th) |
| Goals Against | 3.42 (22nd) | 3.36 (20th) |
| Shots For | 29.5 (28th) | 33.6 (7th) |
| Shots Against | 30.8 (11th) | 33.7 (27th) |
| Power Play | 19.7% (23rd) | 23.8% (10th) |
| Penalty Kill | 91.5% (1st) | 77.6% (19th) |
| Leading Scorers | Karlsson- 32 pts Couture- 23 pts Meier- 23 pts Hertl- 23 pts Barabanov- 15 pts |
Tkachuk- 28 pts Stutzle- 23 pts Giroux- 20 pts DeBrincat- 18 pts Batherson- 17 pts |
| Starting Goalie | TBD | TBD |
